Wargaming the Battle of the Piave

Wargaming
The Battle of the Piave

May 8 1809

by Ian Barstow

Like Sacile, the relatively small size of this battle makes it suitable to re-fight using battalions as the basic combat unit, organised into divisions and Corps for both sides. Each of the French divisions had a paper strength of 7,200 men in 10 battalions with two batteries of guns in support. The cavalry were under-strength, numbering about 2,500 troopers per division. The organisation for them is as follows:

Army of Italy - Viceroy Prince Eugene de Beauharnais. - 45000 men

Advance Guard - Dessaix

Macdonald's Corps

Baraguey d'Hillier's Corps

Grenier's Corps

Reserve Corps

Each of the infantry divisions should have two batteries of 61b guns if you intend to play to a scale where all the battalions can fight. Should you intend to use rules such as Grand Manner then I would recommend five battalions per division and one battery, with Serras perhaps having 12 pdrs. Sahuc should have three regiments of Chasseurs and one of hussars, plus a 4 pdr. Horse battery. The Dragoon Divisions should have four regiments each plus a horse battery. As far as troop quality is concerned, if you are using Follow the Eagle then I suggest the French are C class Trained, with the exception of Dessaix who should have B class Veterans. All the Italian troops should be C class Conscripts except the Royal guard who might make A class trained. Gunners perhaps can be C class Veteran across the board. The cavalry should be no better than C class Trained. Using Grand Manner, I would suggest the French are 1st line with the Italians as 2nd Line and Dessaix's troops as Veterans.

Austrian Army of Italy - The Archduke John. - 30000 men

VIII Corps - Albert Gyulai (in absence of Chasteler)

IX Corps - Ignatius Gyulai, Ban of Croatia

1st Brigade - Stoichewich.

Cavalry 'Corps' - Wolfskehl von Reichenberg

The organisation of the Austrian formations is not quite so generic, and needs clarification. A standard Austrian infantry brigade totalled six battalions, or about 6,500 men. Albert Gyulai's own division seemed to have had a strength of about 15,000 at Sacile, so taking into account losses there and with Austrian wargaming units generally hovering at the 1,000 mark, a total of 10 units may be appropriate if using Follow the Eagle for the Piave. The addition of three 61b batteries should do nicely.

Frimont appears to have commanded one of those Advance Guard divisions of which the Austrians were so fond. I would suggest 2 battalions of overstrength Grenz (about 1500 each) plus a 720 man Jager battalion. A 1,000 strong chevauleger regiment and a matching hussar unit along with two batteries of 6 pdrs should round off Frimont adequately.

Ignatius Gyulai's IX Corps appears different again, with Besanez's division having line and Grenz in it. Accordingly, I suggest 9 battalions of line and one of Grenz, strengths as before, with 3 batteries of 6 pdrs. Kleinmayer' s Grenadiers also need accounting for, and can safely total four units at about 640 men apiece. Finally Knesevich' s command appears primarily to have been Grenzers, so I suggest 4 battalions of Grenz and one of line, together with one battery. Each of the corps also had an artillery reserve, consisting of one battery of 6 pdrs and one of 12 pdrs.

Wolfskehl's cavalry is described as being 3000 strong at the Piave, and these can probably be wholly made up of dragoons.

As far as troop ratings go, for Follow the Eagle the Austrian line is C class Trained, whilst the Grenzers might make C class Veteran. The grenadiers might be B class training, as could be the cavalry, although you might like to drop the dragoons down to C class.

Converting the Austrians to Grand Manner, halving the available units seems to work, with the Jagers reduced to additional skirmishers. Substituting one battery per corps as 12 pdrs also comes to mind.

As a battle, I think the Piave has a lot going for it from the wargaming point of view. The river crossing element is always good for a laugh and means that if you have a variable rise rate for the river it can help randomise the amount of troops Eugene has to face John. The Austrians should be well back from the river to allow the French time to cross, otherwise you will have to make the club thicky play John to get the right amount of delay. Terrain is fairly obvious, but a good size dike (as per the map) should be positioned to give the Austrians a decent line to defend. The game should start at 8:00 a.m. and finish when it gets dark at 8:30 p.m. Then all you've got to do is enjoy yourself.

The "Eugene Trilogy"

Part 1: Battle of Sacile
Part 3: Battle of Raab

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